Shoe-bottom



E. E. WINKLEY.

SHOE BOTTOM. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 16. 1916- RENEW'ED JULY 1.1920- 1,396,801, Patented Nov. 15, 1921.-

tion.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERASTUS 'WINKLEY, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY,

A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SHOE-BOTTOM.

Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

Application filed October 16, 1916, Serial m5. 125,976. Renewed July 1, 1920. Serial No. 393,456.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERASTUS E. WINKLEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Bottoms; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertairis to make and use the same.

This invention relates to boots and shoes,

and particularly. to that part of a boot or shoe which includes the outsole and the heel and is commonlydescribed as the bottom.

It has been "proposed, in the manufacture of certain styles of boots and shoes, to employ an outsole which is shorter than the Shoe as a whole, this sole being of the usual form and character from the toe to the rear end of the shank-portion, but extending thence only in the form of a short tongue or projection of less width than the shank-por- In connection with this sole a heel is used which is provided, on its upper surface, with a recess shaped to receive and fit the tongue on the sole, so that the upper surfaces of the heel and sole are continuous. In a shoe so constructed the outsole is secured in place upon the insole in any usual manner and the heel is then nailed to the shoe, In which case the greater part of the heel-seat of the shoe is formed by the lower surface of the insole, instead of wholly by the outsole asin the more common construction.

The object of the present invention is to improve the formation of the soles and heels of boots or shoes constructed in the manner just set forth, to the end that the lateral margins of the sole, at the junction with the heel, shall be adequately supported, and that the recess in the heel may be conveniently formed without unduly weakening-or defacing the heel at its breast corners, whileat the same time the form of the adjoining parts is such as to insure correct registration be tween the heel and the sole, particularly in a transverse direction, in order to present a full unbroken lateral surface.

To theforegoing end it is pro osed to form the "tongue on the sole, and t e recess in the heel which receives this tongue, as set forth hereinafter in connection with the description of the illustrated embodiment of the" invention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a plan-view of a heel and a sole, before attachment to the shoe, formed in accordance with the present invention and assembled in the relative position which they occupy in a completed shoe; Fig. 2 is a section 011 theline 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a heel formed in accordance with this invention, showing the seat-surface of the heel Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the rear en of a sole formed in accordance with the invention, the sole being inverted to show its lower or grain surface, and Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1

The invention is illustrated as embodied ina shoe-bottom comprising a heel and an outsole, and the heel is shown as being built up of layers or lifts of leather or leatherboard, though it will be understood that the use of such materials, and the formation of the heel in the illustrated manner, are not essential, to the present invention. The heel may be formed upon any ordinary or suitable pattern in all respects except as to its seat-surface. Of this seat-surface the major portion 11 is of the usual smooth, concave form, adapted to fit against the slightly convex heel-seat of the shoe. The characteristic feature of the invention is found, however, in a recess 12 which is formed at the breast-end of the seat-surface of the heel. This recess extends rearwardly from the breast of the heel, and it terminates laterally in curved margins 13 which converge toward the rear extremity of the recess. This rear extremity is formed by a margin or shoulder 14, which may be straight, as illustrated.

The lateral margins 13 are inwardly convex, and they extend to the breast corners 15 of the heel. Accordingly, while the recess is, at its forward extremity, of they full width of the heel, the lateral surfaces of the heel are unbroken, and the unrecessed lateral portions 16 abreast of the recess increase rapidly in width from the front toward the rear of the recess. At its central portion, and at its rear extremity, the depth of the recess is of the full thickness of the sole to be received therein, as shown in Fig. 2.

.The sole is formed, to-the rearextremity of the shank-portion 17, in accordance with not any usual or suitable pattern, and the rear extremity of the shank-portion is of the same width as the breast of the heel. Beyond the shank-portion the material of the heel extends in the form of a rearwardlytapering projection or tongue 18 of less length than the usual heel-seat, which is shaped to'conform substantially to the recess in the heel which has just been described. For this purpose the projection is provided with concave curved lateral edges 19, and with a straight rear edge 20, corresponding, respectively, with the curved margins 13 and thestraight margin 14. of the recess. central portion of the tongue, including its rear edge, is of the same thickness as the remainder of the sole to fill the recess 12 and produce a flush heel seat.

The form or outline of the recess and the sole-projection just described has several advantages. In the first place, the rear extremity of the projection and the recess, since the lateral edges and margins at this point approximate parallel positions owing to the curvature of these parts, insure accurate lateral registration between the heel and the sole. This is of particular impor- 1 tance where the shoe is constructed in accordance with a mode of operation by which the edge of the sole is trimmed prior to the application of the heel, and the heel is trimmed and finished prior to its application to the other parts of the shoe. In this mode of manufacture it is of great importance that accurate lateral registration be secured in order that the finished surfaces of the heel and the sole shall unite in a smooth continuous surface, and the heel be cfirrectly applied to the heel-seat ot the s 0e.

In addition to the foregoing advantage, the present construction has the further advantage that the lateral edges of the shank of the sole. are adequately supported at their rear extremities, that is, where the sole joins the breast of the heel, whereas in previously proposed constructions, in which the rearward projection of the sole is of less width throughout than the heel, shoulders are formed in the sole in the plane of the breast, resulting in corners, at the rear extremity of the shank, which are not directly supported upon the heel, and which,

therefore, are liable to sag, when the shoe is worn, so as seriously to impair its appearance. In the present construction this is avoided by carrying the lateral margins of the heel-recess outwardly to the breast corners of the heel, so that the sole is directly supported by the heel from the middle to its corners.

The recess in the heel may be formed in any convenient manner, according to the material of which the heel is made. Where the heel is made of comparatively yielding The material such as leather or its substitute, the recess is most conveniently made by compression of the material, suitable provision for this being made in the formation of the dies employed in the machine by which the heel is compressed and shaped. Where the heel is formed in this manner it is undesirable to recess the heel to a great depth at points close to the breast corners and lateral surfaces of the heel, since to do so involves a degree of distortion of the material which results in a shearing action and is liable to break down the material at its outer surface and visably distort the layers of the material, while at the same time leaving thin and weak edges at the angles between the breast and the lateral surfaces of the heel.

'Accordingly a feature of the present invention resides in av graduation of the depth of the recess 12, this recess having a depth substantially equal to the full thickness of the sole at its middle portion and throughout its rear extremity, but being diminished in depth laterally, so that at the breast corners or angles 15 the depth becomes very slight, the lower surface of the recess coinciding substantially with the seat-surface 11 of the heel at these points.

The sole-extension 18 is formed at its lateral margin to correspond in thickness with thegraduated depth of the heel-recess. F or this purpose the material of the sole is prefcrably cut away, or notched, at the bottom or grain side, to provide two recesses 21 by which the thickness of the sole is tapered to a thin edge laterally toward the angles 23, which correspond in position with the angles 15 of the heel. These notches are so formed as to produce square shoulders 22 which fit closely against the breast of the heel and produce a close joint atthis point, and a finished appearance which does not differ substantially from that of the more usual construction, except for the short vertical lines of cleavage where the lateral edges of the shank-portion terminate in the plane of the heel-breast.

In the drawings no means are shown for securing together the sole and the heel, but it will be understood that these parts are attached to the other parts of the shoe in. the usual manner, the heel being nailed and the nails by which it is secured being passed through the projection 18 on the sole so as to fasten the sole and the heel securely together and produce a structure which is substantially as solid as one in which the sole extends over the entire upper surface of the heel.

The nature and scope of the present invention having been indicated and its preferred embodiment having been specifically described, what is claimed as new, is r- 1. A shoe-heel having in its heel-seat surface, a pronounced recess below the general level thereof, for the reception of a sole, the recess extending from the breast-surface of the heel and being of less width than the heel except at its forward extremity, at which point it is the full width of the heel.

2. A shoeheel having in its heel-seat surface, a pronounced recess below the general level thereof, for the reception of a sole,the recess extending from the breast-surface of the heel and being of less width than the heel except at its forward extremity, at which point it is substantially the full width of the heel, while the depth of the recess diminishes, from the middle portion, toward the points where the lateral margins of the recess terminate at the breast.

3. A shoe-heel recessed, in its heel-seat surface; for the reception of a sole, the re-' cess extending from the breast-surface of the heel and being bounded, laterally, by curved margins which extend rearwardly from the corners of the heel, in converging directions, the curvatures of said margins being convex toward each other.

4. A shoe-heel recessed, in its heel-seat surface, for the reception of a sole, the recess extending from the breast-surface of the heel and being bounded, laterally, by curved margins which extend rearwardly from the corners of the heel, in converging directions, the curvatures of said margins being convex toward each other, while the depth of the recess diminishes, from its middle portion, toward the points Where the lateral margins terminate at the breast.

5. A shoe-sole provided, at the rear of the shank-portion, with a projection of less length than the usual heel-seat bounded laterally by rearwardly-converglng edges, the

lower or grain surface of the projectionbeing notched to produce shoulders at the junction between the shank and the pro ection, which increase in depth toward the lateral margins.

6. A shoe-bottom, comprising a sole and a heel, said sole being provided, at the rear of the shank-portion, with a projection bounded laterally by rearwardly-converging edges, the lower or grain surface of the projection being notched to produce shoulders", at the junction between the shank and the projection, which increase in depth to ward the lateral" edges; and said heel having, in its.seat surface, a recess conforming to said projection on the sole, the projection'being seated in the recess'with the upper surface of the sole and the seat-surface of the heel substantially continuous.

7. A shoe-bottom comprising a sole and a heel, said sole having at the rear end of its shank-portion .a rearwardly-taperingtongue of the same thickness as the sole at ,its central portion and tapering in vthickness outwardly at each side, and said heel having a recess at the breast-end of its seatsurface shaped to receive said tongue with a breast-edge conforming to the lateral tapers of said tongue. f.

8. A shoe-bottom comprising a sole and a heel, said sole having at the rear-elid of its shank-portion a tongue tapering rearwardly from the full shank width and adapted to fit in-a recess formed for its reception at the breast-end of the seat-surface of the heel, and the side portions of said tongue being notched to provide shoulders against which the breast-corners of the heel a ut.

9.-A shoe-bottom comprising a heel and a sole, said heel having a recess at thebreast-end of its seat-surface shaped to receive a tongue portion of said sole, said tongue portion being notched on its lower or grain side to produce shoulders that abut against the breast-corners of the heel.

10. A shoe-bottom comprising a heel and a sole, the heel having at the breast-end of its seat-surface a recess extending the full width of the heel at the breast to receive a tongue portion of the sole, shaped to fill said recess, whereby the tongue portion is firmly supported by the heel throughout its full width in the plane of the breast, the shape of the recess and tongue being such that the heel presents a full unbroken lateral surface.

11. A shoe-heel having at the breast-end of its heel-seat surface a recess having a maximum depth at the middle portion of the heel and diminishing in depth gradually toward both sides of the heel at the breast thereof in such manner that the ends of its forward edge substantially coincide with the breast corners of the heel.

12. A shoe-bottom comprising a short sole and a heel, vthe heel end of said sole being of maximum thickness at the central portion thereof and diminishing gradually in thickness to a thin edge toward both sides thereof at the pointwhere it joins the heelbreast, and said heel having at its breastend a recess of corresponding shape to receive the end of the sole.

'13. A shoe-bottom comprising a heel and ners of the heel.

ERASTUS WINKLEY. 

